Companies House Late Filing Fines

Companies House Late Filing Fines

Didn't find your answer?

Sent accounts by recorded delivery 30 Jan 2006. Not received at companies house until 7.58am 1 February 2006, filing date 31 Jan 2006. I have spoken to companies hosue and their stance is late so fine. I said if the Inland Revenue received a tax return before working day i.e. 9am on 1/2/06 then tax return not late etc. Basically tough luck the fine stands. What are readers experiences in complaining to companies house and getting fines cancelled? Royal Mail are a waste of time as recorded delivery guarantees nothing. Recorded delivery is a waste of time, as it means no more than a first class stamp!!
Jason Sharp

Replies (7)

Please login or register to join the discussion.

avatar
By adrianking
16th Feb 2006 13:42

Use Special Delivery, but be careful...
Special delivery should be guaranteed the next day, and we've successfully used proof of posting with this appeal.

One thing to watch out for though - we were informed by Companies House in Edinburgh that if the next day happens to be the deadline and a Saturday, because no-one is there to sign for delivery that day they are classed as late. Whereas normal post will be delivered and classed as received on the Sat...

Thanks (0)
avatar
By AnonymousUser
15th Feb 2006 15:19

Indeed

Recorded delivery is indeed a waste of time. Use "guaranteed next day delivery" in future. It only costs a couple of quid more.

Thanks (0)
avatar
By User deleted
15th Feb 2006 16:03

Companies House don't give in!
I sent some accounts to Companies House in plenty of time a while back for a client. They either got lost in the post or dare I say by Companies House. As they had not been posted last minute, I had not sent them by recorded post or next day guaranteed delivery. As I couldn't prove I'd sent them (a copy of my covering letter was not deemed to be sufficient) they would not budge on the fine, which I thought was extremely unfair. Luckily my client paid without grumbling too much. I am pretty sure HMIT would have accepted this, it does seem extremely harsh. Even if they had been lost in the post I think they could have cancelled the penalty.

Thanks (0)
avatar
By User deleted
15th Feb 2006 15:47

Postal Rule
The late tax return fine exemption is due to the postal rule (it could be in their letter box overnight & not opened) - and the subsequent case law that a fraction of a day does not exist in law.

So it is hard to imagine that Companies House can be excluded from this caselaw also. Maybe the recorded delivery is part of the problem as they can prove delivery was on a day following - but what if it had been hand delivered and was sitting in their post box on the correct night but not opened by them until the following day? Would they insist on a fine although the accounts were filed on time because they weren't in work at midnight?

Thanks (0)
avatar
By User deleted
15th Feb 2006 16:03

No luck
I'm afraid that won't work - Companies House are there at midnight! You can deliver to them any time of the day or night.

They are so tight on the filing deadline that ten months for 28 February year ends is 28 December, not the last day of December. Really helpful with Christmas postal delays and bank holidays.

Thanks (0)
avatar
By User deleted
15th Feb 2006 17:46

Have I had fun with this one!
I sent three sets of accounts by special delivery two months before they were due to be filed. The Post Office confirmed delivery and we got the name of the person who signed for them.

Several months later a late filing notice came through for each.

I appealed.

They rejected my appeal.

I appealed again, and they sued my clients.

We went to Court and I produced all the evidence of delivery etc. They had sent the Office Junior who looked silly...

... the Judge postponed the hearing and gave them another month to prepare...

... this time they sent a Big Shot who found some paragraph in the Companies Act which said sothing along the lines of "it is the responsibility of the directors to ensure the accounts are FILED, not just received..."

The judge upheald Co House case and my clients had to pay the penality for a [***] up by Co House!

Thanks (0)
avatar
By User deleted
16th Feb 2006 09:17

So just who are Companies House accountable to?
Can they just do as they please and we have to sit tight and hope that they do actually log everything that we send them? It certainly seems that way. Presumably they wouldn't let us send one of our members of staff along to log our accounts on their computer!!!

Thanks (0)